Hardnews sent some critical questions to Monsanto regarding safety of GM food. This is full text of an exclusive e-mail interview with Monsanto-India’s spokesperson. The company refused to name their spokesperson.

Even as the budget session of Parliament is reconvening on April 15 after a brief recess, the introduction of the much awaited National Biotechnology Regulatory Authority (NBRA) Bill looks doubtful as there are several procedures to be followed before the Bill is finally introduced in Parliament for its nod. If at all the Bill is introduced at the eleventh hour of the session, the chances of discussion on the bill are dim, practically putting the bill into the monsoon session, sources said.

”[a transgenic chicken variety] is ready for commercial use,” T.K. Bhattacharya, the senior scientist who headed the project [...] Besides increasing productivity and increasing weight by genetically modifying the chickens with growth hormones, the varieties are used to treat diseases such as Hepatitis B, Haemophilia, Cancer and AIDS, Mr. Bhattacharya said, without elaborating.

The moratorium does mean that Indian civil society has won a victory. The campaign against the GM aubergine recalls Gandhi’s mobilisation of the people against British rule, under the banner of swadeshi (national self-sufficiency). [...] it is a major blow [...] to the US government. The US has made the acceptance of genetically modified organisms marketed by Monsanto an integral part of its foreign economic policy.

There is unlikely to be any decision on Bt food crops till next year. [...] The six academies will undertake this detailed review covering all aspects of biotechnology in food crops. The report will be submitted to Dr Kasturirangan by mid-December. On Monday, Mr Ramesh conveyed this decision in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

For years, Monsanto - and its Indian subsidiary, Mahyco - have tried to make inroads into India’s vast agriculture by poaching its seeds and replacing them with their own. Though some of India’s publicly funded laboratories are also busy with the creation of genetically engineered (transgenic) crops, the speed with which Monsanto sought to introduce its proprietary GM seeds (cotton, brinjal) was simply astonishing.

Not all state governments have been kind to the global seed giant Monsanto. And cotton farmers have been less than grateful for the genetically modified (GM) technology that is said to have changed their fortunes dramatically. Since it launched its genetically modified Bt cotton in 2002, the company has been fighting a number of state governments over the prices it charges for its Bt cotton brands, Bollgard and Bollgard II, the first a single-gene technology that heralded the entry of GM crops in the country and latter a two-protein technology introduced in 2006.

Government on Sunday said Mahyco, the developers of Bt brinjal, has been asked to deposit the seed stock with the National Bureau of Plant Genetics Resources to prevent any potential leakage and contamination till its safety is proved. ”There is no chance of Bt brinjal making a backdoor entry through leakages of its seeds till it is cleared by an independent regulatory body,” Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh told the Rajya Sabha.

The fate of the first genetically engineered food crop in the country, Bt brinjal, has come down a cropper. Minister Jairam Ramesh played into the hands of the shouting brigades of the anti-GM lobby who created ruckus wherever he went to consult. [...] The deal decisive factor must have been the words of Drs. MS Swaminathan and Pushpa Bhargava, in whom the minister found all wisdom.

two things happened quietly with most of the Indians not really gripping the seriousness of the issues. First was the drafting of the draconian Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India Bill which will be tabled in Parliament soon. The second was the memorandum of understanding between Washington and New Delhi which will make the American presence in the Indian farm sector very strong.